Happy Turkey Day

Thanksgiving Day was altogether uneventful for me. It was certainly a new experience actually working on the holiday since I would typically be home from school, helping my dad cook some portion of dinner. I’ll admit I did shed a few tears in the evening seeing as how this is the first major holiday I’ve ever missed (not looking forward to Christmas based on this reaction). Who knew celebrating a family oriented holiday without your family would be so hard?

Now, enough of the sadness. I have plenty to be thankful for. Firstly, my family who has helped me through these incredibly stressful, exciting, and nerve wrecking past few months. I've been hard pressed to admit it, but I am certainly feeling traces of homesickness. Secondly, the amazing friends I have met since being here in Korea who have helped to ensure that everyday is an adventure. Lastly, my students who have ever so slowly come out of their shells and made me a better teacher along the way.

Furthermore, classes have been going well for me. Surprisingly, my adult class is my favorite in the entire week. This could be because I am consistently complimented by my students. Being called beautiful and their favorite teacher undeniably feeds my ego. In all seriousness though, it is very gratifying to have my students tell me they enjoy learning English because of me and look forward to Friday’s classes. I always try and vary the activities they complete each week, such as having them act out lyrics, compete in class quizzes, play bingo, or fill in the blank for missing lyrics.

A lesson from a few weeks ago was by far one of my favorites. My students watched a scene from the movie La La Land (the Christmas Eve scene in case you were wondering). I had provided some background on the scene itself as well as character profiles and the history of jazz music. After watching the scene, I told them they were the new directors of La La Land, and they would be directing the next scene. It was up to them to decide where the storyline would go. What happens to Sebastian? What emotions are the characters feeling? Each student had so much fun getting to write their own storylines and drawing pictures to represent their storyline (adults like to color too!). One students said Sebastian would be fired, meet a rich woman who was crazy about him, and they would fall in love. Another student said Sebastian and Mia would feed chestnuts to squirrels. A third said Sebastian would be fired, move to Korea, participate in a singing competition, and win the competition.

The following week included acting out a scene from La La Land. The students were provided a script from one of the scenes where they would choose which character they would act out. I encouraged them to add words and phrases to the script, really make it their own. They also had the opportunity to dress up in costumes if they so chose. I had a proud teacher moment watching all my adults stand in front of the class and bring their own pizazz to the scene. Even my most stubborn student had fun. A solid win in my book!

I hope everyone has an amazing holiday with their family and friends...and please eat at least 2 servings of mashed potatoes for me! That is the most important part of the meal after all.